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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Dying To Read (171)- HEARTSTONE by Elle Katharine White


Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

I love a good dragon book and P&P so I am super excited to read this one!

Title: HEARTSTONE
Author: Elle Katharine White
Release Date: January 17, 2017
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Pages: 352
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks
A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.

They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters.

Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.

Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers . . . something far more sinister than gryphons.

It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart.

Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy that conjures a familiar yet wondrously unique new world. 
So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday (79)- Top Ten Favorite Books Coming out this Fall 2016


Hi thanks for stopping by!!! And welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

August 30: Back To School Freebie -- anything "back to school" related like 10 favorite books I read in school, books I think should be required reading, Required Reading For All Fantasy Fans, required reading for every college freshman, Books to Pair With Classics or Books To Complement A History Lesson, books that would be on my classroom shelf if I were a teacher

I'm not a teacher and I don't think schools should dictate what kids read (ugh I hated required reading and would have read more if I would have been able to read what I wanted) so I'm just going to post a list of my Top Ten Favorite Books Coming out this Fall 2016!

I'll post the covers and link to goodreads.

1. 


2.  



4.  



5.   



6.   



7.   



8.   




9.   




10.  




So what about you? What are some fall 2016 books you've read or are looking forward to ? And check back next week for a favorite topic of mine! Fall TV Shows I'm looking forward to!!! 


Hugs,
Jaime


Thursday, August 25, 2016

Cover Reveal- FAITHFUL by Michelle Hauck & A Giveaway!



Today Michelle Hauck and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover for FAITHFUL, book two in the Birth of Saints series which releases November 15, 2016! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to win a SIGNED copy of book 1 GRUDGING!

On to the reveal! 




Title: FAITHFUL (Birth of Saints #2)

Author: Michelle Hauck
Pub. Date: November 15, 2016
Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse
Formats: eBook
ISBN: 9780062447173
Find it: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Goodreads

Following Grudging--and with a mix of Terry Goodkind and Bernard Cornwall--religion, witchcraft, and chivalry war in Faithful, the exciting next chapter in Michelle Hauck's Birth of Saints series!


A world of Fear and death…and those trying to save it.


Colina Hermosa has burned to the ground. The Northern invaders continue their assault on the ciudades-estados. Terror has taken hold, and those that should be allies betray each other in hopes of their own survival. As the realities of this devastating and unprovoked war settles in, what can they do to fight back?


On a mission of hope, an unlikely group sets out to find a teacher for Claire, and a new weapon to use against the Northerners and their swelling army.


What they find instead is an old woman.


But she’s not a random crone—she’s Claire’s grandmother. She’s also a Woman of the Song, and her music is both strong and horrible. And while Claire has already seen the power of her own Song, she is scared of her inability to control it, having seen how her magic has brought evil to the world, killing without reason or remorse. To preserve a life of honor and light, Ramiro and Claire will need to convince the old woman to teach them a way so that the power of the Song can be used for good. Otherwise, they’ll just be destroyers themselves, no better than the Northerners and their false god, Dal. With the annihilation their enemy has planned, though, they may not have a choice.


A tale of fear and tragedy, hope and redemption, Faithful is the harrowing second entry in the Birth of Saints trilogy.

Exclusive Excerpt!

Not for the first time, Claire reconsidered her decision to stay when Ramiro had asked her. She’d lingered out of curiosity—and truthfully because it felt good to be needed—but they didn’t need her now with the Northern army defeated. She could return to the swamp and away from so many people. Despite her hopes of friends and community, she felt awkward here. Reason said she’d get used to their ways, but being around so many folk made her want to hide. Everything pressed down. The walls of the tent shrunk, pinning her in, and smothering her. It became hard to breathe.
She reached for a fresh strip of cloth, only to have her hand shake. She snatched the material and began to roll it, trying to shut out everything else, including her own doubts.
Before she could find a semblance of peace, though, someone shouted. Ladies screamed. Claire looked over her shoulder at the noise. A brown-bearded man in a poncho and a floppy hat ran in her direction. “My family is dead, because of the evacuations. Because of you.”
Claire gasped. He seemed to be talking to Beatriz, then his gaze found Claire.
“Witch!” His outstretched hand suddenly held a long butcher knife. “Witch! Stay away from us! Murderer! Abomination! Die!”
Fronilde dropped to the ground, but Claire couldn’t move. Surprise robbed her brain of a Song to stop him. Even the words of the Hornet Tune, which she knew as well as her name, deserted her. The man closed as everyone scrambled out of his way. Then Beatriz sprang from her chair to stand over Claire, holding up her hand. The tall, black-lace mantilla atop her head waved like a flag. “Stop.”
Something about the authority in the First Wife’s voice—or maybe her simple resistance instead of cringing or scrambling away—brought the man up short, making him pause for a moment. Just the moment the bodyguard needed to crush the lunatic to the floor and overpower him, wrestling free the knife. More guards came running from outside.
Breath rushed back in Claire’s lungs. Beatriz sniffed and touched a spot on her chest over her heart and then her forehead and stomach areas. “Imbecile. He didn’t know who he was dealing with.”


About Michelle: 


Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two teenagers. Two papillons help balance out the teenage drama. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack.

She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat and Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow.

Her epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. Her short story, Frost and Fog, is published by The Elephant's Bookshelf Press in their anthology, Summer's Double Edge. She's repped by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary.



Giveaway Details:
2 winners will receive a signed  of GRUDGING, US Only.



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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Dying To Read (170)- THE DRAGON'S PRICE by Bethany Wiggins


Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

I love a good dragon book and I am super excited to read this one!

Title: THE DRAGON'S PRICE
Author: Bethany Wiggins
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 304
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Fans of Julie Kagawa’s Talon and Renee Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn will devour this action-packed fantasy adventure about a girl who chooses to surrender herself to a deadly dragon rather than marry an enemy prince.

When two warring kingdoms unified against a deadly menace laying waste to both their lands, they had to make a choice: vow to marry their heirs to one another, or forfeit their lives to the dragon.

Centuries later, everyone expects the sheltered princess Sorrowlynn to choose the barbarian prince over the fire-breathing beast—everyone, that is, except Sorrow, who is determined to control her own destiny or die trying.

As she is lowered into the dragon’s chamber, she assumes her life is over until Golmarr, the young prince she just spurned, follows her with the hopes of being her hero and slaying the dragon. But the dragon has a different plan. . . .

If the dragon wins, it will be freed from the spell that has bound it to the cave for centuries. If Sorrow or Golmarr vanquish the dragon, the victor will gain its treasure and escape the cave beneath the mountain. But what exactly is the dragon hiding?

There are no safe havens for Sorrow or Golmarr—not even with each other—and the stakes couldn’t be higher as they risk everything to protect their kingdom.
So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Release Day Celebration: Into The Light by Caroline T. Patti with Giveaway

IntoTheLightRDC
 
Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for
Into The Light (Into The Dark #2) by Caroline T. Patti
presented by Month9Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
 
Happy Book Birthday, Caroline!
 
Into the Light Cover
 
Mercy’s family is back together and the threat of danger appears to have passed. But any relief she feels is short lived as she is ripped from her body and thrown in jail. Gage and Nathaniel’s plans to break Mercy out won’t exactly be easy. Stuffed full of a chemical binding agent, Mercy is trapped inside the body of a convict without the ability to breach and set herself free. Unfortunately for Mercy, being trapped in jail becomes the least of her problems when she meets her evil twin, Justice.
add to goodreads
Into the Light (Into the Dark #2) by Caroline T. Patti Publication Date: August 23, 2016 Publisher: Month9Books
 
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
 
Into-the-Dark-cover
 
A girl’s sweet sixteen party is supposed to be among the most memorable events of her life. But on the night of hers, Mercy Clare wakes in the waiting room of a hospital with no memory of how she got there. To make matters worse, she’s wearing something she’d never be caught dead in: her best friend Lyla’s clothes.
Mercy’s nightmare is just beginning. The doctor arrives to tell her that it’s she who lies in the hospital bed waiting to die. A trip to the bathroom confirms Mercy’s fears, as Lyla’s face stares back at her and Lyla’s curvy figure pokes through her tight clothes.
But finding out what’s really going on won’t be easy. Because if Mercy wants her body back, it might just cost her Lyla’s life.
add to goodreads
 
About-the-Author2
Caroline-Patti-225x300
 
Caroline T Patti is the author of The World Spins Madly On and Too Late To Apologize. When she’s not writing, she’s a school librarian, mother of two, wife, avid reader and Green Bay Packer fan. You can chat with her on Twitter: carolinetpatti or find her on Facebook: Author Caroline T Patti.
 
giveaway2
Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
 
Chapter-by-Chapter-blog-tour-button
 

Top Ten Tuesday (78)- Ten Books I've Had ON MY TBR Since Before I Started Blogging That I Still Haven't Read


Hi thanks for stopping by!!! And welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

August 23: Ten Books That Have Been on Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven't Read Yet

Before I started blogging I read a lot more PNR & UF so there will probably be a bunch of adult books on this list. I was going to take a pic of the books but I think they may be boxed up. So here's my list.

I'll post the covers and link to goodreads.

1. 

2. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 


9. 


10. 


So what about you? What are some books that are still on you TBR since before you started blogging? And check back next week for my Top Ten back to school freebie! 


Hugs,
Jaime


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Interview With Mary E. Pearson & A Giveaway!


Hey everyone! So as a part of THE REMNANT CHRONICLES Read Along I got to interview Mary about the series!  I adore this series! So check out the interview and enter the giveaway!

Haven't heard of THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS? Check it out!

Title: THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS(The Remnant Chronicles: Book Three #3)
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Release Date: August 2, 2016
Hardcover: 688 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Goodreads |Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda and the path before them is winding and dangerous - what will happen now? This third and final book in The Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed.

Bestselling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance and action make this a riveting page turner for teens.


Now on to the interview!

Hi Mary! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books! THE REMNANT CHRONICLES series is a personal favorite of mine and I can’t wait to see how it all ends! And am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

Thanks for having me Jaime!!

For the readers: can you give us a little series recap?

Ha! A little series recap would take me pages! But luckily there are great sites like Recapitans, that give fairly detailed recaps of books you’ve read.  But be warned: Do not read these recaps if you haven’t read the books yet! They are full of spoilers and only meant to refresh your memory if you’ve already read the books.

Here is the recap for The Kiss of Deception:

Another useful site is Book Series Recaps. Here’s the recap for The Heart of Betrayal:

Of course, even recaps can’t capture every important detailand I load a lot of significant details into the storiesso if the story is fairly hazy in your head, I recommend a reread.

Were any of the characters in the books inspired by people from your real life?

Yes, all of them in bits and pieces. Lia is a combination of a lot of girls and women I have knownstrong, fierce, with a definite mind of her own.

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

The three main characters were my favoritesI loved switching between the threebut if I look at the secondary characters, I loved writing Pauline. She was so different from Lia but very strong in her own ways. In The Heart of Betrayal, I had so much fun writing the Komizar. He dripped with voice, and attitude, and confidence. When he was in a room, you knew it.  And I loved he contradictions in him, brutal and humane.  He was an interesting character to write. Oh, and Aster! I loved her. In the last book there were some favorites too, but I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say, I loved writing Rafe’s men, Sven, Tavish, Orrin, and Jeb. My heart squeezes when I think about them.

As for least favorites, I really hated him, but writing about Malich was still intriguing and he always upped the conflict temperature whenever he was in a scene.

What is your favorite passage in each book?

Hm, let me see. I don’t think I have one absolute favorite, but here are a few that I really like. This passage from The Kiss of Deception comes on the heels of a devastating loss for Lia. She is numb and it seems drained of caring anymorebut compassion still resides deep within her and it is awakened when Eben’s horse falls to the ground and he is ordered to kill it. We knew she was strong when she dug graves for those she loved, but I think this scene brought that strength to a new level when she showed compassion for Eben, seeing him as a frightened boy instead of as the enemy.
~
I whipped around and spat. “Ena fikatande spindo keechas! Fikat ena shu! Ena mizak teevas ba betaro! Jabavé!” I turned back to Eben and he inhaled a sharp breath when I snatched the sheathed knife from him and pulled the blade free. A dozen bows were raised and arrows drawn by onlooking soldiers, all aimed at me. “Have you said goodbye to Spirit yet?” I asked Eben.
          He looked at me, his eyes glassy. “You know his name?”
          “I heard you whisper it in camp.  They were wrong, Eben,” I said, tossing my head in the direction of the others. “There is no shame in naming a horse.”
He bit his lower lip and nodded. “Then turn around,” I ordered. “You don’t have to do this.”
~
I talked a little about this passage from The Heart of Betrayal on Stacee’s blog in July, and how I like how Lia makes her thoughts known in no uncertain terms to Griz, a giant of a man who towers over her in no uncertain terms.  It could almost be considered a mission statement for all three novels.
~
I walked up to Griz and poked him in the chest. “Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Though some might seek to make it appear otherwise, I am not a bride to be bartered away to another kingdom, nor a prize of war, nor a mouthpiece for your Komizar. I am not a chip in a card game to be mindlessly tossed into the center of the pot, nor one to be kept in the tight fist of a greedy opponent. I am a player seated at the table alongside everyone else, and from this day forward I will play my own hand as I see fit. Do you understand me? Because the consequences could be ugly if someone thought otherwise.”
~
For The Beauty of Darkness I will have to avoid a passage that is spoilerish, but this one doesn’t give much away.  Here, Lia is in an old abandoned cottage in the woods, reflecting on some names carved in the door, and thinking about how a life can turn out so differently that what you planned:
~
Even my father’s name was carved here. Branson. I ran my fingers over the rough letters. It was hard to imagine that he’d ever been a carefree child running through the woods, and I wondered at the way we all change, all the outside forces that press and mold and push us into people and things we hadn’t planned to be. Maybe it happened so gradually that by the time we noticed, it was too late to be anything else.
~
I like this passage because Lia looks at the many shades of changesome we may bring about ourselves, but some creeps up slowly and quietly and we don’t even know we’ve been trapped by it.

What inspired you to write YA?

I think the teenage experience is fascinating! Big things happen at this stage or our lives. It is the first time we are making adult decisions that may affect us for the rest of our lives. Life-changing decisions.

Another plus is that novels are based on conflictthats what makes the pages turnand the teen years are ripe with potential conflict as teens test waters they haven’t dipped their toes into before. I have a lot of patience for a teen heroine who makes a bad choice but not so much for an adult who should know better or who screws up over and over again. A teen is trying to grow up whereas some adults refuse to.

And I have to say, I love reading YA books myself.  They are surprising, twisty, fascinating, and written with beautiful prose, pace, plot, and characters.  It is a natural fit to want to write the kind of books that I love.

Lightning Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Right now I am halfway through All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (wonderful!) and on my very tall TBR pile I am dying to get to Bone Gap by Laura Ruby and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.

What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
Hufflepuff.  Family comes first, and I am quite loyal.

Twitter or Facebook?
Both, because sometimes we are short winded and other times we need more than 140 characters.  Variety is the spice of social media.

Favorite Superhero?
She’s not a comic superhero, but one who makes me cheer wildly: Brienne of Tarth.

Favorite TV show?
I have so many favorites but one I would claw my way home to watch: Game of Thrones.

Sweet or Salty?
I have a terrible sweet toothespecially when it comes to ice cream.

Any Phobias?
Spiders. I literally just shivered writing that word. I don’t mind if they stay outside, but I really don’t like it when they enter my domain.  Cue in hunter stance and raised shoe.

Song you can’t get enough of right now?
Remedy by Adele.  It’s feeding a lot of inspiration right now.

Movie you’re most looking forward to?
Right now I am looking forward to the newest Meryl Streep movie, Florence Foster Jenkins, coming out in August. I love Meryl Streep!

Thanks so much Mary for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS!


Thanks so much for letting me stop by, Jaime!!



About Mary:

Mary E. Pearson is the award-winning author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, A Room on Lorelei, and Scribbler of Dreams.  She writes full-time from her home office in California where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers.









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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Dying To Read (169)- THE FREEMASON'S DAUGHTER by Shelley Sackier


Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

I will be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of this cover but I still want to read this! I mean they're calling it the Outlander series for YA I guess minus the time travel part but really what we love about Outlander isn't the time travel aspect it's the parts in Scotland lol!!!

Title: THE FREEMASON'S DAUGHTER
Author: Shelley Sackier 
Release Date: April 11, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 384
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks
The Outlander series for the YA audience—a debut, full of romance and intrigue, set in early eighteenth-century Scotland.

Saying good-bye to Scotland is the hardest thing that Jenna MacDuff has had to do—until she meets Lord Pembroke. Jenna’s small clan has risked their lives traveling the countryside as masons, secretly drumming up support and arms for the exiled King James Stuart to retake the British throne. But their next job brings them into enemy territory: England.

Jenna’s father repeatedly warns her to trust no one, but when the Duke of Keswick hires the clan to build a garrison on his estate, it seems she cannot hide her capable mind from the duke’s inquisitive son, Lord Alex Pembroke—nor mask her growing attraction to him. But there’s a covert plan behind the building of the garrison, and soon Jenna must struggle not only to keep her newfound friendship with Alex from her father, but also to keep her father’s treason from Alex. 

Will Jenna decide to keep her family’s mutinous secrets and assist her clan’s cause, or protect the life of the young noble she’s falling for? 

In Shelley Sackier’s lush, vivid historical debut, someone will pay a deadly price no matter which choice Jenna makes.
So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?
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